Film Website Gordon and the Whale Closes Its Doors

Film Website Gordon and the Whale Closes Its Doors

As of August 31st, film website Gordon and the Whale will be shutting down. In a heartfelt letter to readers, owner and editor-in-chief Chase Whale explained that the website will no longer be creating fresh content at the end of next month.

The letter went on to recall the history of the website, which Whale and Rusty Gordon launched back in 2007. It was “a website that sounded like a children’s book but read like two guys who hated each other,” Whale wrote. “It was all out of love, really.”

“Even though today is one of the hardest days of my life, I am thankful for all of the opportunities that GATW afforded me and my wonderful staff,” Owner and Editor-in-Chief Chase Whale told indieWIRE today. “GATW has been the greatest and most uplifting experience of my life. I’ve learned true inspiration and have grown as a writer and a person from the people I’ve met along this incredible journey.”

Whale explained that the decision to end the site came out of both him “wanting to move on,” as well as financial woes that many in the online journalism world likely know all too well.

“We all did GATW out of love,” he said. “I always quoted ‘Never for money, always for love’ from Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be The Place’ when speaking about why we do what we do. But as a business that’s getting bigger and better opportunities, we needed money to keep going and it never came. We all decided it was best for us to pursue other adventures in the film and writing world. All of us love each other so very much and will be very supportive of everything we accomplish. We’re like 2011’s ‘The Goonies’ – we fight, cry, and stick together. We’re family.”